GOP senator calls for more corn cronyism mandated by the EPA

It’s the same party with 2 wings. The Washington Crony Party. If one can fleece the taxpayer it will be done, Republican, Democrat, whatever, so long as money is funneled to the narrow interests which fund your campaigns.

The Republican Party, though it has a free market wing which is young and growing is still dominated by the older big government crony Republicans. How long that generation can hold on, and how much damage they will create to the economy is anyone’s guess.

(From The Surge)

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) just can’t help himself. He is intent on using the power of the federal government to prop up biofuels production to help farmers in his home state. This is an inefficient allocation of resources and rank crony capitalism.

Grassley is pushing for two crony ideas.

First, the Iowa senator wants to use government mandates to make sure that Iowa farmers have a government mandated market for farmers grown biofuels.

He has teamed up with other Farm State senators to push for the Environmental Protection Agency to increase the biofuels mandate in the 2016 Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS). Grassley has communicated to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy that he is upset at the way the EPA crafted the new RFS and he wants the government mandate strengthened.

The RFS was created in 2005 and requires that renewable fuels be blended with set at a percentage agreed to by the EPA. The EPA was considering lowering the standards because they doubt that enough domestic production is available to meet the current standard.

Ethanol is bad for your engine, bad for the country’s economic engine, is damaging in terms of the amount of energy needed to create it, and is a vehicle for all kinds of cronyism. No Republican worth his salt should be calling for an extension of ethanol EPA mandates even if he or she is from Iowa.

About Nick Sorrentino

Nick Sorrentino is the co-founder and editor of AC2NEWS.com and AgainstCronyCapitalism.org. He is also the founder of TheSorrentino.com. A political and communications consultant whose clients have spanned the political spectrum, his work has been featured at Chief Executive Magazine, Reason.com, NPR.com, Townhall, The Daily Caller, and many other publications. He has spoken at CPAC, The Commit Forum, The Atlas Summit, The US Chamber of Commerce, The National Press Club, and at other venues. Sorrentino is the Founder of Exelorix Consultants and a senior fellow at Future 500. He is also the author of the book Politicos, Predators, Payoffs, and Vegan Pizza. A graduate of Mary Washington College he lives just outside of Washington DC where he can keep an eye on Leviathan.